Automatic train-stop.



l E. n. 'HTLL.v AUTOMATIC TRATN STOP.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 9. 191|'.

Pafnted May 4, 1915.

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E.'R. HILL. AuToMATxc TRAIN sToPLI. APPLlc/Tlqu man 'FEB'. 9.1911.

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A .HIS u ATTORNEYS i EENST R'W'LD HILL, OF EAST ORAN'GE, NEW JERSEY, ASSG-NOE T0 THE WESTING- HO'SE A1B BRAKE CGMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH, 'PENNSYLVANEA, A CORPORATION F PENNSYLVN 161,.

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AUDMATIC TRAIN-STOP.

` Patented May d, 1915.

appuesum and February e, ien. serial ne, sorgere.

To all whom it may concern Be itv known that 1 ERNEST Romano HILL, a citizen of 'the United States, residing at East Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and usetul Improvements in Au'- tomatic Train-Stops, o which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

In the operation of railways it is desirable to have means whereby under certain circumstances, as for example, in the event of the car or train running past a signal, the car or train' may be brought to a stop or have its speed reduced by agencies which are not dependent for operation upon the will of the motorman or engineer. Devices :tor such purposes are commonly known as automatic train-stops, and usualy take the form of a trip device arranged adjacent to the controlling instrumentalities thereof so that,

if the train runs past or lfails to heed the signal such movable member, colliding with' or engaging the trip device will bgactuated end so cuJ od, the power from the train or vapply the brakes* or perform some other function or functions of like or equivalent l nature, singly orcombined.

My present invention relates to appara tus of this general type, and its chieobject is to provide improved means ior the purpose, whereby the desired operations may be performed with certainty' and precision.

A further object is to provide means, in

conjunction` withiapparatus of the characterl indicated whereby thev movable controlling member carried by the car or train is protected from contact with obiects ot any kind in its path except the trip device provided for the purpose, said means serving as a plow or guard'to clear snow, ice, and other obstructions from the path oi' the train-controlling member.

To these and other ends the -invention conj sists in the novel features of construction and combinations of elements hereinafter described, and incre particularly -set forth in the appended claims. jA

Convenient and edective embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accom- 'pany/ing drawings Aand will now be fd@- .traclc g and associated-with the signaling system in* scribed somewhat in detail, but it should be kept in mind that the invention may be embodied in other forms without departure from. its proper spirit and scope.

Referring now to the drawings, Figure 1v is a side View, partly in section, showing the trip device at the instant of engagement by the advancing guard or plow carried by the train. Figs. 2 and 3 are detail side views showing ditl'erent positions of the trip device as it is passed by the devices carried by the train. Fig. l is a iront view', partly in section, of the parts shown in Fig. 1. i Fig. 5 is a sidelview showing -another form of trip devicean'd another form of air brake valve and valve-operating member. Fig. 6 is a detail side View showing the position of the valve-actuating member and the trip device shortly before the actuation ofthe valve .iscompleted.` Fig. 7 is a front view of the control the movement of the car vor train through the agency of a suitable switch in 4an electric control system, or a valve in a pneumatic or electro-pneumatic system; or a valve associated with the air brake system and so connected therewith, for example in the train pipe, that the operation of the valve oy the trip device will cause the binkes to he applied.

1n the form shown in Figs. 1 to /1 inclusive the valve, designated by 10, is of the slide valve, plunger, or piston type, connected to the train pipe (not shown) by a ipc- 11 and having a port 12 for the escape o air when' the valve is operated. The depending stem or plunger 13 is provided with a head 14, square in plan., for engagement with the trip device.

The.. valve is mounted in a` supporting frame 15, which is in turn mounted on a suitable part of the car, as for example a longitudinally extending beam 16 carried byvor forming part of one of the trucks, not shown. To provide for vertical adjustment of the supportingfrarne, to bring the valve to the proper position with respect to the trip device, the fran/1e is formed with two arms 17, in front and rear ofthe valve, having horizontally corrugated faces 18 coperating with similarly corrugated plates 19 form, the purpose of which is to clear ob` structions from the path of the piston, one or the other of the guards performing such duty according to the direction in which the car or-train is traveling. Of course if the car is always turned around when its direction of travel is reversed, the rear guard may -be omitted, but as this is not likely to be the case I prefer to employv two guards,

' the -Si as shown.

The trip device, designatedr generallby 24, is rigidly mounted on a rock shaft 2 ar ranged transversely with respect to the track, one rail of which is shown in section at 26. This shaft is connected with the sig naling system in such manner, not shown, that whenthetrack ahead is clear the forked stop arm 27 -will be depressed to the position indicated in dotted lines in Fil 1, but when alchanges to danger the arm will beralsed to the full line position. livoted at the `free or outer end ofthe stopy arm is a device comprising a sleeve 28 encircling the Ypivot.29 and three radial ngers 30, 3.1, 32, .mounted .t hereon.'- Inside the sleeve 28 isa oeils ring 28?;theends ofwhieh pass- ;throu h e end-caps 83"on thevsleeve and' exten into suitable recesses, not shown, mg the adjacent faces of the arm 27, the .partsnamed being solproportioned andvarrenged--, that the sleeve will 4be yieldingly held position-'-show1'1 inv Fig.- 1, with the .middlei nuger 31A in alinement with the arm 2 7.

cap 24 incloscs-the sleeve, thepivot and the. upper ends of 'the fork, to'exclude cinders .and. .the like..

Assumenow that the car is moving from right -to leftas viewed in Fig. 1, 'and that the stop'arm is raised. The outer fingersv :30, 32, being. sa spaced with respect to the middlelingerthat the finger 32 will be below the bottom of the forward guard, 22, it will be seen that the last named guard will strike the middle finger and swing the same forwardly, or in the direction of the cars travel, thereby bringing the rear linger 32 u1, against the, head, 14, of plunger 13 and impartinglan upward movement thereto. Asthe car moves on the guard continues to depress the middle finger until the latter engages the bottom of the guard as in Fig. 2, by which time the rear finger has completed the upward movement of the valve plunger, thereby opening the valve-and al-y enough to cause the brakes to be applied. The forward swing of the fingers is now continued by the rear guard, in engagement with the rear linger '32, the parts taking the position shown in Fig. 3, in whichthe finf ger 32 bears against the bottom of the rear guard. As the car moves on the guard `23 clears the linger 32, whereupon the spring .28* restoresvthe fingers to the position shown In igs. 5,56, and 7 I have illustrated another type of plunger-operated Valve, arranged for actuation by a trip device of the same general type as that shown inthe ig'- movement.' This armor lever extends into a' diagonal slot 42 in the plunger 13l which is mounted for vertical reciprocation in the vsupporting frame 15.. It will therefore be Vseen that upward movement of the plunger, 'tf he position shown in Fig. 6 for example, will 'give the arm 41 a partial rotation, opening'thevalve. i.

iger-1 te4the'lngers 3 0, 31, 32 and the sleeve Sgjfofnwhich they are mounted are arranged' tosti" lle only a partial revolution and'to be x;etu` rned to initial position b the uiting 28h? AIn the form illustrated in 5,: and 7fthe device is completely rotatable, 'thouglra single actuati n may not ycause acomple'te rotation. In t lis form the fingers-'43, 44, 45, 46,.'four in number in the,

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present instance, are spaced eguidistantly and are mounted on a member 4 which has an extension 48 provided with nal faces the same in number asl the iin ers and in register, so to speak, vtherewltlt Below this extension is a flat-headed piston 49 mounted in a tubular carrier 50 between the-forks of the stop arm 27 and urged yieldingly against said extension 48 by a coil spring 51.

The parts being in the position Shown in Fig. 5, with the car or train carrying the supportingframe 15 from right to left, the

guard 22a strikes the finger 44 and so brings the next finger, 45, up against the valveoperating plunger 13, lifting the latter and turning the valve-arm 41 as shown in Fig. 6.

As the car moves on the rear guard, 23", car'- ries linger 45 forward until it clears the same, whereupon the piston 49, coperatin with the part 48, rights the device an brings the parts to an operative .position like that shown in Fig. 5, with two ofthe fingers in alinement with the stop-a1'm'27.

In both forms it is desirable to have'the valve-operating parts light in weight se as "agressie to lessen the inertial-of the parts-suddenly rotated bv the guard and alsov to lighten the work performed by the signaling system in setting the stop-arm, .and for this reason prefer to 'make the fingers out of strong metal strips, for example spring steel, bent to the proper shape, as' shown, and secure 'them to the sleeve 28 or member 47 in a con- *venient manner, as by bolts 52, 53. This construction also gives the fingers a certain can, as previously' stated, make a complete revolution, and can, in fact, be rotated indenitely in either direction without injury.'

Suchmoveinent in the form shown in Figs. l to @would result in straining if not breaking the spring, and to prevent such occur- 'rence due to inertia or meddlesome or mischievous persons a stop 55 is provided be'- 'tween the forks of trip-arm 27, in position to engage finger 30 or 32 if the attempt is made to turn the device too far.

This stop can be made yielding if desired by the addition of springs 56 on opposite sides.

Although the specific ,form of trip device illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4 is not shown in cooperation With a valve of the rotary type, as in Figs. 5, 6, and 7, it is clear that such trip device can be used With the latter type of valve. Likewise the trip device of Figs. 5, 6, and 7 can be used with the valve shown in Figs. 1 to 4. I I.

aIt is to be understood that the invention is capable of embodiment in forms other than as herein specifically illustrated and described, Without departure from its proper spirit and scope.

l claim':

1. In an automatic train controlling system, the combination of a movable controlling member mounted on a car or tram, a

guard in front of said member, and a track device provided with a movable member havinga portion adapted to be deflected by said guard, and another portion for actuating the train` controlling member b y the deiecting movement of said movable member of the track device.

2. In an automatic train controlling system, the combination Vof a movable controlling A,member mounted on a car or tram, a

, guard in front of said member, and a track 'device comprisinga stop arm having a piyot'ed finger adapted to be deflected by said gugrlandfanother nger connected with member by said deiiecting movement.

member.,

the iirst for actuating the train controlling `3. In apparatus of the kind described, in

combination, a reciprocatory controlling member adapted to be mounted on a car or train, a guard'in front ofthe controlling member and immovable relatively thereto, and] actuating means Jfor said member,

adapted to be mounted adjacent to the 'track Iou which the car or train is running, said meansincluding an element adapted to be actuated by the guard and in turn to engage and actuate the reciprocatory controlling 4. In apparatus of the kind described, in

combination, a supporting frame adapted to be mounted on a car or train, a reciprocatory controlling member associated with the frame, a guard carried by the frame in front of 'the controlling member and immovablerelatively thereto, and actuating means for the controlling member, adapted to be mounted adjacent to the track on which the car or trai@ is running, said means including an element adapted to be actuated by the guard and in turn to engage and actuate the reciprocatory controlling member.

5. In an automatic .train controlling system, the combination of a train controlling member, andgguards carried by the train in front and rear ci saidmember, of a track device provided With a pivotally mounted member having a portion adapted to be delected by the-front guard, and another portion for actuating the train controlling member and adapted to be deected to permit the, passage of the rear guard.

6. "ii apparatus of the kind described, in

y combination, a movable controlling member adapted, tobe mounted on a car or train, front and rear guardsA in line With the controlling memberand immovable relatively thereto, and actuating means for the` controllino` member, adapted to be mounted adjacent to the track on which the car or train is running, said means including an element movable by the guards to permit their passage and havinga part brought by such vmovement into actuating engagement Witlrj the controlling member.

7. In apparatus of the kind described, in

combination, a controlling valve adapted to be mounted on a car or train, va depending plunger associated with the valve, a depending guard in front of the plu-nger and 1mmoyable relatively thereto, and actuating means for the plunger, adapted to be mounted adjacent to the track on which the car or train is running, said means including an element movable by the guard by'ltlie passage thereof and having a part brought by suchl movement into actuating engagement With the plunger. 8. A trip device for automatic train stops, comprising, inl combination, an

element Aadapted to be mounted adjacent to a track.4

the device in a given position'relative to the said element and with a linger in position to project into the path of thesaid controlling memb.: when the said element is in its upper position.

' 9. A trip device for automatic train stops, comprising, in combination, an arm adapted to be pivotally mounted adjacent to a track, a device pivotally mounted on the arm and having resilient radial fingers composed of sheet metal bent to a rounded form, and a spring associated with said device to yieldingly oppose/rotary movement thereof.

10. In an automatic train control system, the co1nbination with a train controlling l' member having a reciprocating plunger for actuating the same, and a ,guard for protectinfr lsaid plunger, cfa track .trip device having a portion adapted to be deliected by the guard and anotherportion for actuating' said plunger.

11. In an automatic train control system, the combination with a train controlling member having a vertically reciprocating plunger 'for actuating the same, and a guard for protecting said plunger, of a track trip'v device provided Wtih a pivotally mounted member having a portion adapted to be defle :ted by the guard and another portion for actuating said plunger.

12. In an automatic train control sysm,

the combination with a train controlling member having a reciprocating plunger for actuating the same, and guards at the'font and rear of said plunger for protect' same,1o'f a track trip device provided with a pivotally mounted member having a nger adapted to be deflected by the guard `and another finger lfor actuatin said plunger when the train is running 1n either direction. i

13. In an automatic train controllingv system, the combination with a train controlling member, and a projection carried by the train, of a track device provided 4with a movably mounted member having a portion adapted to be deflected by said projection, and another portion for actuating the train controlling member by the deflectingmovement of said movable member of the track device.

14. In an automatic train controlling system, the combination wit'h a train controlling member carried by the train, and guards also carried by the train in front 'and rear the of said member, ,of atrack device provided Y...

with a pivotally mounted vmember having 'a 4portion .adapted to be deflected by the front guard, and another portion for actuating" said train controlling lmember-` by said ldefiecting movement and adapted to be deflected by the rear guard'.

. In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in th; presence of two subscribing Witnesses. 'ERNEST ROWLAND HILL.

Witnesses: Y

M. LAWSON DYER, S. S. DUNHAM. 

